Can radiation exposure be safe?  Does your food become radioactive if it is irradiated?

These are among the questions individuals ask about radiation.  A new Web site, Radiation Answers, responds to these and other queries about radiation and its effects.  The online resource is available at www.radiationanswers.org .

The Health Physics Society (HPS) spent more than a year creating the Web site aimed at educating the public about a wide variety of radiation issues.  The society is a nonprofit professional organization that promotes excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety.

The site includes a Q&A section that discusses the effects of medical X-rays and products that emit radiation in your home.

Radiation Answers also debunks some of the myths that arise from movies, television shows and other forms of media that sometimes give false information on the effects of radiation.  The Web site has a link explaining basic information for those with no prior knowledge about the subject.

Developers of Radiation Answers remove the technical terminology and replace it with plain-English answers to questions pertaining to people’s everyday lives.

To ensure the technical accuracy of its online guide, HPS enlisted help from its members.  A separate technical panel selected by the society’s board of directors and a collection of advisory group members reviewed the content.  The advisory group included representatives from the American Medical Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other scientific groups.

By the way, the answers to the questions are:

1. Radiation exposure can be safe.  Medical procedures such as X-rays and normal background radiation from the sun are safe in low doses, according to the Web site.
2. Radiation Answers states that irradiated food does not become radioactive and there is no scientific evidence that harmful chemicals are formed during the process.